不好消化（陈继龙 编译）
Jun 2nd 2006
From The Economist print edition
BACTERIA, like people, can be divided into friend and foe. Inspired by evidence that the friendly sort may help with a range ofailments[1],many peoplec________①bacteria in the form of yogurts and dietary supplements.（1）Such a smattering[2]of artificial additions, however, represents but a drop in the ocean.There are at least 800 types of bacteria living in the human gut. And research by Steven Gill of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland, and his colleagues, published in this week's Science, suggests that the collective genome of these organisms is so large that it contains 100 times as many genes as the human genome itself.
细菌和人一样也有敌我之分。有益的细菌有助于防治多种疾病已经得到证实，这使得许多人都食用细菌制成的酸奶以及补品。然而，人为地补充这么一点点，只能是杯水车薪。人消化道内生活着至少800种细菌。马里兰州洛克威尔基因组研究中心的史蒂文•吉尔及其同事们在本周《科学》杂志上发表的一篇研究报告认为，这些生物体有着庞大的宏基因组，所包含的基因总数是人类基因组的100倍。
Dr Gill and his team were able to come to this conclusion by extracting bacterial DNA from the faeces of two volunteers. Because of the complexity of the samples, they were not able to reconstruct thee_______②genomes of each of the gut bacteria, just the individual genes. But that allowed them to make an estimate of numbers.
吉尔博士和他的研究小组是通过提取两位志愿者粪便中的细菌DNA后得出这一结论的。鉴于标本的复杂性，他们无法重建消化道所有细菌的全部基因组，而只构建了个别基因。但这使得他们能够对基因总数作出估计。
所有这些细菌的活动状况尚难以确定——细菌不易培养。所以，研究人员将所发现的基因与功能已经明确且已公布的基因数据库进行比较，从而推测出细菌“大概在干什么”。（译者按：tricky在此句中是指“something that is difficult to deal with or do because it is complicated and full of problems”，即“棘手的，难以处理的”。be up to在这里略显口语化，表示“doing something secret or something that you should not be doing”，“偷偷摸摸地做……”，比如：The children are very quiet. I wonder what they're up to.孩子们很安静，我不知道他们到底在搞什么东东。）
（3）This comparison helped Dr Gill identify for the first time the probable enzymatic processes by which bacteria help humans to digest the complex carbohydrates in plants.The bacteria also contain a plentiful supply of genes involved in the synthesis of chemicals essential to human life—including two B vitamins and certain essential amino acids—although the team merely showed that these metabolic pathways exist rather than proving that they are used.N_________③,the pathways they found leave humans looking more likeruminants[3]:animals such as goats and sheep that use bacteria to break down otherwise indigestible matter in the plants they eat.
通过比较，吉尔博士首次确定了细菌利用酶反应帮助人类消化植物中糖化合物的大致过程。此外，细菌还含有大量参与合成人类生命必需化学物质（包括2种B类维生素和某些必需氨基酸）的基因。不过，研究小组仅指出了此类代谢途径的存在，但未予证实。话说回来，他们发现的这些途径让人觉得人类看起来更像是反刍动物：比如山羊和绵羊，这类动物都是用细菌来消化所食植物中其它无法消化的物质。
The broader conclusion Dr Gill draws is that people are superorganisms whose metabolism represents anamalgamation[4]of human and microbial attributes. The notion of a superorganism has emerged before, as researchers in other fields have come to view humans as having a diverse internal ecosystem.________________________________.〔有人提出，这对研制个性化药物具有重要意义，因为不同的人由于拥有不同的微生物群落（microbial flora），因而会对药物产生不同反应。〕Accordingly, the next step, says Dr Gill, is to see how microbial populations vary between people of different ages, backgrounds and diets.
吉尔博士进一步得出结论：人是集人类与微生物代谢功能于一身的超生物体。关于超生物体的观点以前就有，当时其它领域的研究人员认为人类拥有一套不同的内部生态系统。有人提出，这对研制个性化药物具有重要意义，因为不同的人由于拥有不同的微生物群落，因而会对药物产生不同反应。吉尔博士据此说道，接下来要弄清的是，年龄、生活背景以及饮食习惯不同的人在其所含的微生物种群上有何差异。
Another area of research is the process by which these helpful bacteria firstc_______④the digestive tract. Babies acquire their gut flora as they pass down thebirth canal[5]and take a gene-filled gulp of their mother's vaginal and faecal flora.（4）It might not be the most delicious of first meals, but it could well be an important one.
另一研究领域是关于这些有益细菌最初是如何“进占”消化道的。婴儿在经过产道并充分“摄取”富含细菌基因的母体阴道分泌物和粪便菌落之后，细菌便开始进入胃肠道。这头一餐也许不是最可口的，但肯定是最重要的。
[QUIZ]
1. 根据首字母以及括号内的词性提示和英文释义填入单词（注意复数、时态形式变化等）：
①c________（vt. to eat or drink, especially a lot of something）
②e________（adj. whole or complete, with nothing missing）
③N________（adv. despite what has just been said or referred to）
④c________（vt. to send people to live in and govern another country）
2.英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：
3.汉译英（根据译文提示，写出相应英文）：
[NOTES](LONGMAN)
1.ailment n.an illness that is not very serious疾病（尤指微恙）
2. smattering n.1）a small number or amount of something少数，少许如 a smattering of applause稀稀拉拉的掌声 2）have a smattering of something to have a small amount of knowledge about a subject, especially a foreign language 略知一二
3. ruminant n.反刍动物
4. amalgamate1）vt.或vi. if two organizations amalgamate, or if one amalgamates with another, they join and make one big organization [= merge]合并 2）vt. to combine two or more things together to make one thing 融合，混合 —amalgamation n. 如：an amalgamation between two companies两公司合并
5. birth canal n.产道
[TIPS & BACKGROUND]
宏基因组(collective genome):也可译为Metagenome，是特定环境全部生物遗传物质总和,决定生物群体生命现象。
[KEY TO QUIZ]
[replyview]1. ①consume 吃喝；②entire 全部的，完整的；③Nevertheless 不过；④colonize（英国：colonise）开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地
2.（见译文，仅供参考，欢迎指正）
3．This, suggest some, will be crucial to the success of personalised medicine, as different people will have different responses to drugs, depending on their microbial flora.（注：可不拘泥于原文，但应向其学习。）
